41-year-old Asha Silva from Kettering and 20-year-old Noah Cosby from Towcester are drivers for Team BRIT, the world’s only competitive team of all-disabled racing drivers, and competed in round 3 of the Britcar Endurance Championship last weekend. Their impressive performances leave them riding high in the championship.
Asha, who is autistic, is pairing up with fellow autistic racing driver, Bobby Trundley from Wokingham, driving a BMW M240i.
Noah, who is paraplegic following a motocross accident is paired up with 17-year-old Deaf driver, Caleb McDuff from South Wales and driving a McLaren 570S GT4. This is Noah’s first ever full season as a GT34 driver.
On Saturday 31st May the drivers took on qualifying in the morning.
Asha qualified P2 in class with Bobby. Sadly, a technical issue meant that Noah and Caleb could not compete in qualifying and therefore had to start their first race from the back of the grid. They then prepared for 2 x 45 minute races.
Race 1 saw Asha taking to the track first. Unfortunately, the car picked up a puncture and Asha missed the pit window to enable her to return to the garage. Bobby took over, pushing with everything he had to bring them home 3rd in class.
Noah had an epic first stint, making up 9 place in his opening effort. Caleb then took over, finishing 4th in class.
In the 2nd race, both drivers finally got the luck they deserved
Asha and Bobby were keen to get themselves back up the podium standings after race 1’s puncture. Bobby started out for the pair, giving absolutely everything and demonstrating his years of experience. Asha than took over, showing how much pace she has built up, now in her 3rd year with the team, holding on to the lead Bobby had secured and bringing them home first in class. Sadly, they received a pitstop penalty, demoting them to 2nd.
Noah started the race in the McLaren, immediately pushing the pace. He received contact from another car, causing him to spin out and pushing him to the back of the grid. Despite this, he gave everything, clocking one of the fastest lap times of the race, to hand over to Caleb in 3rd place. Caleb held on and performed superbly, bringing the McLaren home 2nd in class and 4th in the overall race.
Asha and Bobby are now second overall in the championship and lead their class. Noah and Caleb are 11th and 3rd in their class.
Asha said: “Round 3 of the season and we were certainly tested to the extreme. Thankfully, we had a great team behind us, helping us get the brilliant result we achieved with two podium finishes. One dream team!”
Noah said: “Round 3 at Snetterton was, yet again, another rollercoaster. Having had our car in perfect working condition throughout all of testing, it decided to quit a couple of hours before our qualifying session. This unfortunately meant we didn’t get the opportunity to qualify and had therefore been placed at the back of the grid.
“Race one was a battle to gain as many positions as possible to set up for race 2, although 3 safety cars made that difficult.
“I started race 2, and on lap one I took contact from the rear and spun, putting us right at the back once again. I was able to get back on track and fight all the way to P3, then handed the car over to Caleb who secured a P2 finish and p4 overall.
“For the whole team, this weekend had so many challenges, but everyone came together and made it possible to get the best result we could with the hand we were dealt. We couldn’t have asked for any more.”
Asha and Noah both race again at Thruxton on Saturday 5th July.